From Gears to Gigahertz: Tracing the Dawn of Electronic Computing

The Evolution of Early Computing Devices: From Gears to Electronic Brains

As an archivist, I’ve spent countless hours sifting through dusty documents, often feeling like I’m stepping back in time. Today, I want to take you on a journey through a particularly fascinating period: the very beginnings of electronic computing. It’s a story of ingenious minds and remarkable leaps in technology. Long before the sleek devices … Read more

Before the World Wide Web: The Wires That Connected Us

Before the World Wide Web: The Wires That Connected Us

Today, we often think of the internet as a sudden, almost magical arrival. But like most profound technological shifts, its roots run deep, tangled in a history of wires, dots, and voices long before screens glowed with instant information. In my years spent poring over historical documents, I’ve seen firsthand how the desire to communicate … Read more

From Papyrus to Pixels: How We’ve Always Counted

From Papyrus to Pixels: How We've Always Counted

As a retired archivist, I’ve spent my life sifting through the records of human endeavor. And what I’ve learned is this: people have always been obsessed with collecting information. The fundamental drive to record, organize, and understand data hasn’t changed much, even if our tools have dramatically. Today, we swim in a sea of digital … Read more

Ancient Gears, Modern Lessons: The Antikythera Mechanism’s Warning

Ancient Gears, Modern Lessons: The Antikythera Mechanism's Warning

Hello everyone, Eleanor here. As a retired archivist, I’ve spent my life sifting through the remnants of history, particularly the fascinating evolution of technology. Today, I want to talk about something ancient yet surprisingly relevant to our hyper-connected, automated world: the Antikythera mechanism. Discovered in a shipwreck off the coast of Greece in 1901, this … Read more

The Ghost in the Machine: Early Automation’s Unseen Costs

The Ghost in the Machine: Early Automation's Unseen Costs

It’s easy to think of automation as a modern invention, a product of silicon chips and complex algorithms. But the desire to have machines do our work, and do it tirelessly, is much older than you might imagine. Back in the 19th century, a time of booming industrialization, people were already dreaming of automated factories. … Read more